Carr v. Montgomery County Board of Education, Civ. A. No. 2072-N.
| Citation | 253 F. Supp. 306 |
| Decision Date | 22 March 1966 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 2072-N. |
| Parties | Arlam CARR et al., Plaintiffs, United States of America, Amicus Curiae, v. MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama |
Fred D. Gray, Gray & Seay, Montgomery, Ala., Jack Greenberg and Charles H. Jones, Jr., New York City, for plaintiffs.
John Doar, Asst. Atty. Gen. of U. S. for Civil Rights, Washington, D. C., Ben Hardeman, U. S. Atty., M. Dist. of Alabama, Montgomery, Ala., for United States, amici curiæ.
Vaughan Hill Robison, and Joseph D. Phelps, Hill, Robison & Belser, Montgomery, Ala., for defendants.
In accordance with the conclusions reached by this Court in this matter and the evidence presented in this matter upon which those conclusions are based, it is hereby,
Ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the defendants, their agents, officers, employees, and successors, and all those in active concert or participation with them shall:
1. Execute the Plan for Desegregation of the Montgomery County, Alabama Public School System which is attached hereto and incorporated herein.
2. Report to the Court, on or before June 7, and each such date until further Order of this Court, the anticipated student enrollment in each school by race and grade for the next school year and report, as it occurs, any subsequent substantial change in enrollment affecting desegregation.
3. Report to the Court by June 15, and each such date, until further Order of this Court, the planned assignments of professional staff to each school for the next school year by race and grade, or where appropriate, by subject taught or position held, and report, as it occurs, any subsequent change in planned staff assignment affecting staff desegregation.
4. Report as soon as possible after the opening of school, but no later than September 20, and each such date until further Order of this Court, the actual data for the items covered in the reports ordered in Paragraphs 2 and 3.
5. The Court specifically retains jurisdiction of the parties and the cause.
All grades of the Montgomery County Public School System shall be desegregated by the Fall of 1967.
(a) 1966: Commencing with the school term in September 1966, grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the Montgomery County Public School System shall be desegregated and pupils assigned, without regard to race or color, on a freedom of choice basis as described in this Plan.
(b) 1967: Commencing with the school term in September 1967, the remaining grades, specifically grades 5 and 6, of the Montgomery County Public School System shall be desegregated and pupils assigned, without regard to race or color, on a freedom of choice basis as described in this Plan.
Any school to be newly constructed and any school to be substantially expanded by the construction of additional classrooms will be planned, opened, expanded, and operated on a nonsegregated basis. Freedom of choice will cover all grades, and teachers and principals will be assigned so that the faculty is not composed of members of one race.
The following requirements shall apply for all students covered by freedom of choice under this Plan.
parent or other adult person serving as the student's parent. A student may exercise his own choice if he (1) is exercising a choice for the ninth or a higher grade, or (2) has reached the age of fifteen at the time of the exercise of choice. Such a choice by a student is controlling unless a different choice is exercised for him by his parent or other adult person serving as his parent during the choice period or at such later time as the student exercises a choice. Each reference in this Plan to a student exercising a choice means the exercise of the choice, as appropriate, by a parent or such other adult, or by the student himself.
(c) Choice Period: The period for exercising choice will commence on April 1, and end on April 30, preceding the school year for which choice is to be exercised. No student or prospective student, who exercises his choice with the choice period, shall be given any preference because of the time within the period when such choice was exercised.
(d) Mandatory Exercise of Choice: A failure to exercise a choice within the choice period does not preclude any student from exercising a choice at any time before he commences school for the year with respect to which the choice applies, but such choice may be subordinated to the choices of students who exercised choice before the expiration of the choice period. Any student who has not exercised his choice of school within a week after school opens will be assigned to the school nearest his home where space is available under standards for determining available space which will be applied uniformly throughout the system.
(e) Distribution of Explanatory Notice and Choice Form: On the first school day of the choice period, an explanatory notice and a choice form (Appendices A and B) will be sent home with each child in the Montgomery County Public School System. Extra copies of the explanatory notice and the choice form will be freely available to parents, students, prospective students, and the general public at each school in the system and at the office of the Superintendent.
(f) Return of Choice Form: At the option of the person completing the choice form, the choice form may be returned by mail. in person, or by messenger to the office of the Superintendent.
(g) Choices not on Official Form: The exercise of choice may also be made by the submission in like manner of any other writing which contains information sufficient to identify the student and indicates that he has made a choice of school.
(h) Choice Forms Binding: Once a choice form has been submitted, it is binding for the entire school year and may not be changed except in cases of parents making different choices than their children under the conditions set forth in Paragraph III (a) of this Plan and in cases where compelling hardship is shown by the student.
(i) Preferences in Assignment: In assigning students to schools, no preference will be given to any student for prior attendance at a school, and no choice will be denied for any reason other than overcrowding. The Montgomery County Board of Education shall report to the Court each instance of preference given for prior attendance at a school because of special circumstances. If, as a result of such preference, a student residing closer to the school than the special student is denied his choice, a report of the disposition of the denied student, and reasons therefor, shall be made to the Court. In case of overcrowding at any school, preference will be given on the basis of the proximity of the school to the homes of students choosing it, without regard to race or color. In determining proximity for the 1966-1967 school year, existing district lines may be employed without regard to race. All existing attendance areas as defined by district lines and feeder school descriptions will be abolished effective 1967.
(j) Second Choice Where First Choice is Denied: Any student whose choice is denied must be notified in writing by May 30, and given his choice of each school in the system serving his grade level where space is available.
(k) Transfers for Special Needs: Each student must attend the school to which he is assigned under the foregoing provisions, except that any student who requires a course of study not offered at that school, or who is physically handicapped, may be permitted, upon his written application, to transfer to another school which is designed to fit, or offers courses for his special needs.
(l) Transportation: Busses will be routed to the maximum extent feasible so as to serve each student choosing any school in the system. In any event, every student choosing the school nearest his residence will be transported to the school to which he is assigned, whether or not it is his first choice, if that school is sufficiently distant from his home to make him eligible for transportation.
(m) Official Not to Influence Choice: No official, teacher, or employee of the school system shall...
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Carr v. Montgomery County Board of Education, Civ. A. No. 2072-N.
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